I will plan on hosting the Pepper Swap again, since that is kind of my baby, but I won't have time to host any other swaps. I started working part-time this fall, and just don't have much free time anymore.

The tomato swap is the other really big swap, and I already know that the host from this year is unable to host next year, so we will need an experienced swap host for that one.

New ideas are always welcome, and for most of the swaps, no experience is needed for hosting, just a willingness to learn, and the gift of your time and energy.

Hope to see a lots of familiar faces in 2013, and make some new friends too!

Just an idea...how about including berries in one of the swaps such as goji, blackberries, etc. I planted goji berries last year and they are about 14" high, course we'll see if they survive through the winter here in zone 5.

I will do the Heirloom again and possible another but not the tomato one (way too big).

I am so glad to hear that you are willing to host the Heirloom Swap again in 2013.

We discussed a fruit swap last year, but the limitation is that most fruit trees that can be purchased are grafted onto a separate root stock to ensure hardiness. Even things like blackberries and raspberries are usually sold only as plants, not often grown from seed by gardeners. There are a few fruits, such as strawberries, ground cherries, elderberries, and goji berries that can be grown from seed though.

After doing a little research, it looks like you CAN grow fruit trees from seed IF it is an heirloom variety. Here is a short list of some of the possibilities.

Bonnie, I was thinking more of the berry line and grapes. I new fruit trees would take several years and then they may not survive colder temps since fruits are grafted onto hardier root stock. It was just a thought but probably not a good one anyway.

I generally participate in only one of these each year (this time it's two), so the schedule works fine for me as it is. But since you asked, I started thinking about the timing and when gardeners in different climates start seeds. So...

Of course the primary consideration is when the hosts can handle the swap. So let me say that again: first choice is when the host can do it! It doesn't happen at all without the wonderful hosts. So I also think that if a host wants to volunteer for a specific swap but can do it in a different month, that's ok, too.

If the hosts don't have a preference, I'd base it on seed-starting time.

The earliest ones are peppers. Some gardeners start them (especially the slowest-germinating hot peppers, such as rocoto, C. chinense, or anything other than thin-walled C. annuum varieties) as early as December. So I'd move that one to early November. Next up is tomatoes, which in some climates need to be started as early as January -- move that to November. Salad greens can be started most months (in my climate), but it's nice to have something in the early spring, say by early March, so I'd move it to January. I like to get my summer squash started by April, so I'd move that one to February. Winter squash and beans can be started a little later, so maybe March for both of those.

For the new seeds, I'd move it to February. Some of the best seedhouses don't ship or revise their catalogs until January (such as Fedco and Sand Hill Preservation), so that gives people time to order, if they are swapping current seeds.

I think the seed-stash swap and the heritage swap can be any month (I assume the heritage swap is heirloom varieties only -- varieties with a story -- not hybrids or recent OP varieties?). But for people who participate in several swaps, the seed-stash swap can be an opportunity to share seeds they've received that they won't use, so it'd make sense to do that one at the end of the swap cycle, in April.

Since squash and beans have already been done this season and tomatoes and peppers have not, I'd schedule the swaps for 2013 this way.

habitat_gardener has a great idea about changing the times of the swaps. By the time a certain swap is over and received, I have already started my seeds for the season and I usually don't use the seeds from the swap just received until the following year. We need to hear from more gardeners regarding swap months, any changes, etc. WHAT DO YOU THINK. I am in zone 5 but more like 4B. This year the first frost hit the first week of September so I lost most of the garden. My peppers & tomatoes have got to be at least 8 to 10" high before I set out in the garden or I don't get any. When do you start planning for the next years garden?

Ellie, I'm always planning for next year's garden, LOL! I kind of keep a running list of new things I want to try, and notes on my germination records about which ones did well, etc.

I usually start my peppers in late January through mid-February, though I may start a couple earlier than that this year. Tomatoes grow much faster, so late February through mid-March.
Lettuces - Late January through late February
Peas - March
Carrots - April
Cucumbers, Melons, Pumpkins, and Beans - May

All that being said, I usually use the seeds from this year's swaps to plan next year's grow lists, so it doesn't bother me that I don't use them the same season I receive them.

My biggest issue with the idea of doing the pepper and tomato swaps in the fall, is that between finishing processing that season's harvest, the kids school activities, and holiday preparations I just don't have free time then. As habitat gardener mentioned, without a host, the swap can't happen. Besides, there are a lot of gardeners in the warmer zones, that plant much later than you and I do, so I think participation is probably greater in the winter months, after the holidays are over, through the early spring.

That's just my viewpoint, if there are enough people that want to change it, and people willing to volunteer to host, we can change the schedule to whatever works for the majority. I really would like to move the Pepper Swap up to January or February though. The only reason I have been doing it in March, was so that it wasn't competing with the Tomato Swap for participants.

So far only two swaps are covered. This is kind of what I was thinking, IF we can get some volunteers on board.

JANUARY

* Seed Clean Out Swap (the reason this one is in January is for people to clear out their seed boxes to make room for the new seeds they are ordering for that season)

FEBRUARY

* Pick-A-Peck of Peppers Swap (HOST: Highalttransplant)

* Totally Tasty Tomatoes

MARCH

* Spring Fling Salad Swap

* Cukes, Melons & Summer Squash

APRIL

* Divide & Conquer (Commercial Seed Swap)

* Honoring our Heritage Heirloom Swap (HHH) - (HOST: Farmergirl2009)

MAY - OCTOBER = Planting and harvesting break

NOVEMBER

* Pumpkins, Winter Squash & Gourds

* Beans, Beans, Beans Swap

DECEMBER = Holiday Break, Planning for the next year.

*** REMEMBER THIS IS A PLANNING THREAD, SO THIS SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE ***

Ooops, Gary, I think we must have been posting at the same time. We usually post the sign ups a couple weeks ahead of time, so even if it was scheduled to start in Feb., you could certainly post the swap thread in mid-January. Have you ever hosted a seed swap before? The tomato swap is one of our biggest swaps of the year.

Gosh now that I am really thinking about time schedules, I would not have time to do a swap before the holidays either. But you are right, if we don't have host sign-ups we can't have a swap so.....if no one signs up for the cucs, melons & summer squash I will do that one or if Michelle doesn't want to do the bean one this year I could do that. Just let me know.

Hi Skyblue! There is plenty of room! You don't have to join the group. All you do is look for the sign up thread for the swap you are interested in participating in. Then just post on the thread that you'd like to join that swap. You can join as many of the swaps as you would like.

I have to say that I am a bit disappointed in the underwhelming response to the planning thread. Based on the people that have volunteered so far, this is what the schedule would look like for 2013:

JANUARY

* Seed Clean Out Swap - (HOST: Farmergirl2009)

FEBRUARY

* Pick-A-Peck of Peppers Swap (HOST: Highalttransplant)

* Totally Tasty Tomatoes (HOST: Tormato)

MARCH ???

APRIL

* Honoring our Heritage Heirloom Swap (HHH) - (HOST: Farmergirl2009) This could be moved up to March if you'd like, since no one signed up to host the March swaps. ???

MAY - OCTOBER = Planting and harvesting break

NOVEMBER: ???

DECEMBER = Holiday Break, Planning for the next year.

I would love to add some of those swaps back in, but without hosts, this is how the schedule is shaping up. Tomorrow's the last day of 2012, so I need to finalize the schedule. Is anyone else interested in hosting?

I could host the salad swap if you want. I did the squash this fall and it was fun. I don't think I could take on something as big as the tomatoes. Although I'll be really sad if the tomato swap doesn't happen.

I can host the cukes, melons, and summer squash swap in March if no one else is interested. I'll be unavailable for about a week (march 20-28), so either I can try to wrap it up by then or else send back seeds in April.

I haven't hosted a swap before and I assume this one is low volume/low pressure.

Awesome, Julia and Habitat gardener! Both of those are smaller swaps, maybe 10 - 15 participants, as opposed to 20 - 40 swappers. Plus, the number of varieties sent in per participant is lower than on the tomato and pepper swaps, so yeah, I would say low volume/low pressure is a good description on those. Habitat gardener I will email you some instructions for hosting, but I would say if you post the swap in mid-February, you should be able to wrap it up by mid-March if necessary.

Okay, so that just leaves the Bean and the Pumpkin swaps left. Any takers???

Sorry I haven't been around lately to help out with this group that I love so very much. It has been an entirely overwhelming year this year with my mother in and out of the hospital and nursing home, the loss of family in the Newtown shootings, the Holidays, and to wrap it up, the day after Christmas someone came and stole all 4 tires and rims off my daughters car...go figure. I am up for doing the Pumpkin swap if it is done in October like it always has been, as once the week of Halloween comes I am in a whirl until at least the 2nd or 3rd of January LOL!

And maybe we can do a month or 2 next year(2014)like we used to in the begining when the swap was themed, ie. 'Buried Treasure'-all root veggies, 'Biggest Littlest'-Mammoth Sunflowers, giant tomato varieties, miniature bell peppers, smallest pumpkin variety, 'Weird and Wonderful' exotic veggie varieties, strangely shaped tomatoes, uncommon herbs Etc,.....Just a thought. :)

And definitely cant wait until the Tomato swap, that one is my absolute favorite!!

I am sorry i have not been on this site much, these are some great swaps. would be happy to help out anyway i can. and i have lots of seeds to swap, all from commercial sources(i am retired and spend a lot of time online in the winter buying things i will never plant but have lots of fun doing it)
kc

Ack, please disregard my suggestions as I see now, after rereading the post that you already have 2014 set up. Sorry, lol. And it looks like the pumpkin swap is no longer a Fall swap, so disregard that as well. Boy things sure have changed around here lol.

Sunny, the Pumpkin and Bean swaps were left off of the most recent version of the schedule, which I posted on Dec. 30, only because I did not have any volunteers to host those yet. They can still be in October/November this year (2013). Can't really say what will happen in 2014. I have to take it one year at a time : ) Would love to have you host the Pumpkin swap if you are interested!

No. Someone posted a thread with the name Totally Tomato Swap, but that is not our swap. Not sure why they chose a name that was already being used annually by our group, but ours will be listed as Incredible Edibles Totally Tomato Swap, so just look for a thread with that title.

Tormato offered to host it, and I am waiting to hear back from him and the other volunteers. If he is unable to host it, I will let you know.

** update - that thread looks like it has been removed. Our tomato swap thread should be posted within the next couple of weeks though, so keep your eye out for it.

Sorry, I got so confused lol...so if you still need me I would be happy to do Pumpkins. That was always my favorite swap to host and Halloween and Autumn in general are my favorite times of the year. :-D